Chris Ferrell

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Chris Ferrell (b. September 12, 1969 in Gainesville, Florida) was a council member-at-large for the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County.^[1]

[edit] Education and career

Chris Ferrell was originally elected to serve as a councilman-at-large in 1995 and re-elected in 1999. During his time as an at-large council member, he was a member of the Education Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, the Rules, Confirmations, Public Elections, and Aviations Committee, the Public Safety Committee, and the Health, Hospitals and Social Services Committee.^[1]^[2]

On January 1, 2005, Chris Ferrell became the publisher of the Nashville Scene.^[3] Chris Ferrell has been president of Marketing Ops.com. Previously, from 1998 to 1999, he was Vice President of Marketing at Telalink. From 1997 to 1998, he was Community Relations Manager of Nashville CitySearch. From 1994 to 1996, he was a research assistant for the FAST-Track Project, an intervention program designed to prevent antisocial behavior in children identified as high risk at school entry because of conduct at home and in kindergarten. In 1994, he was a court liaison at PEACE, Inc. From 1992 to 1994, he was a youth minister at Glendale Baptist Church.^[1]^[4]

Chris Ferrell ran for vice mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, and won the August election to compete in the run-off election against Howard Gentry, who later became Vice Mayor.^[5] Ferrell was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and Firefighters, and Gentry was endorsed by the Nashville Business Coalition, but both denied a labor/business split.^[6]

Chris Ferrell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University, and from Vanderbilt Divinity School with a Master of Divinity degree.^[1]

[edit] Bills sponsored and votes

In January 2003, Chris Ferrell was a co-sponsor of legislation that would have extended fair housing and employment anti-discrimination laws to protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill was withdrawn and a replacement bill was introduced a month later that would have only applied the employment anti-discrimination laws to the Metro government. He also sponsored a bill that would have guaranteed a wage that generated income above the federal poverty level for Metro employees.^[7]^[8]

Chris Ferrell voted in favor of raising pay rates for city council members from $6,900 to $15,000, the vice mayoral salary from $8,900 to $17,000, and the mayoral salary from $75,000 to $136,500.^[9] He co-sponsored two amendments to the ordinance adopting the Capital Improvements Budget and Program of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for fiscal year 1999-2000 that funded the acquiring of roperty for a new elementary school in the Overton Cluster and building one. He also co-sponsored an amendment to the same ordinance funding a new Bellevue Branch Regional Library to be built. The former two projects cost $5,500,000 total, and the latter $5,000,000.^[10]